The Real Thing
by kkgc22
Summary: Catherine's seeing things & apparently she's not the only one. GC! GRILLOWS! Love those two!


Just a short little thing for all those awesome Grillows people out there!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters… they belong to CBS. :[

I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

She sat at the break room table, staring at the seat he used to occupy. The rest of the team had left & this had been her ritual since he had left. The black chair was all she had left of him. Her gaze traveled down the glass of the table to her lap as a tear rolled down her face. She looked back to the chair & her memory created a ghostly image of him. He was staring at her with concern on his features.

"Cath? Why are you crying?"

"Gil, you already know. You ask me this every day."

"Why don't you do something about it?"

"You're married."

Usually he seemed to come to an understanding at this point & his image slowly dissipated, but tonight something was different.

"To a woman who always finds a way to leave me."

Catherine's head jerked up but his image was gone. That was different.

* * *

The next day when Catherine arrived to work, she couldn't get Gil's words out of her head. Could it be that he had been channeling her; that he had been so concerned with her that she sensed him every day?

She was early today because she needed to finish up on the evaluations so she turned towards the break room for a much needed cup of coffee. Her head was down in a report as she entered the room & her hands made quick work of the cream and sugar. When she went to open the sugar packet the paper fell to the ground so she bent down to pick it up. Her hands quickly came to a halt as she noticed a shoes beside the paper. From those shoes came jean covered legs, followed by a torso covered in a light blue, long sleeved shirt, & then the face of Gil Grissom. His hair was slightly more gray & a bit longer, but his face was clean shaven. His eyes were as bright as they had ever been. Gorgeous. He was sitting in his chair, but this wasn't a ghostly image. No, he was there; all there.

"Hi, Cath." He said with a cheeky grin.

Her mouth was agape & she quickly stood up. "G-Gil?"

He stood and started to walk toward her but he didn't get far because Catherine ran towards him and threw her arms around his neck. She hugged him like she might not ever see him again.

"You're here. You're really here." She said

He laughed, "Yes. I'm right here."

Catherine then began to sob. Her face buried in his neck, relishing the feel of his soft skin.

"Catherine. Please don't cry. I don't think I could take another day of you crying."

She pulled back. Her red-rimmed eyes searched his. "You heard me crying?"

He shook his head. "Every day; sometimes I even saw you. You magically appeared wherever I was at. I was starting to go crazy."

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"I need to sort my life out."

"Isn't that why you left?"

"I left for the wrong reasons."

Catherine's right hand stroked his cheek. "I missed you."

He gave her the classic sideways Grissom grin. "I missed you too."

* * *

After her shift, she invited Gil over to her house for some drinks. They started back into their routine in a matter of minutes. Catherine had her screwdriver & Gil had his scotch. They settled on the couch when Gil noticed Catherine staring at him. "What?" he asked.

"I love your hair." Her right hand ran through his locks.

A slight blush crept up his face. "Thanks. Sara made me buzz it before. I didn't like it much."

Catherine withdrew her hand at the mention of Sara's name. Gil immediately felt the loss.

"Have you seen your wife since you've been back?"

"You could say that." He glanced toward his left hand & Catherine's eyes followed his. There, on his ring finger was the indentation of a ring, but no ring itself. "One reason I came back was to get a divorce."

Catherine's eyes welled. She knew Gil never wanted to be divorced. It was one of the reasons he was so afraid of commitment in the first place. "Gil, I'm so sorry."

He looked at her, "Cath, don't be." His hand took hers. "Do you want to hear the other reason that I came back?"

She nodded.

"I came back because I'm in love. I'm in love with this woman who has always been beside me. Whether I left her or not, she was there in real life & my dreams. After Sara left Paris, I realized that I was tired of her leaving. I was done. That was it. But that made me realize that I was doing the same thing to this woman. You're the one I love Cath. You never left me. I was always the one to leave, but I'm not leaving anymore." He put his face down and watched as he played with her fingers.

Catherine had a full blown smile on her face. "Gil, look at me."

His eyes locked with hers.

"I love you too. I always have & I always will." She then took his face in her hands and their lips locked in a passionate embrace & she couldn't help thinking how great it was going to be to come home to the real thing.

Hope you liked it!


End file.
